THE FORBIDDEN CITY's Wildly Entertaining and Affecting Thrills Come Home on 4K UHD

When you think about great martial arts films, the odds are pretty good that you're picturing classics new and old from Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, or maybe even underseen gems from America like Drive and Redbelt.

What you're probably not picturing, though, is an Italian movie. Well, at least not until you seen Gabriele Mainetti's fantastically entertaining The Forbidden City.

Mei (Liu Yaxi) is a young Chinese woman who arrives in Rome in search of her missing sister, and she's prepared to beat down as many thugs as necessary along the way. Her quest sees her cross paths with Chinese traffickers and an Italian crime boss while also befriending a young Italian man (Enrico Borello) mourning his own missing father. They soon discover, though, that their loved ones' fates are intertwined, leading them to the same destination.

As with Mainetti's previous film, the excellent Freaks Out from 2021, The Forbidden City is an action film in the sense that when the action hits, it is phenomenal -- but there's a lot more going on here than just the action. All of the fight sequences here are nothing short of fantastic, including two absolutely stellar face-offs between Mei and multiple adversaries, but the film is equally interested in family, love, and the interactions between cultures.

Yaxi's first lead role marks her as an incredible talent to watch -- yes, as a great screen fighter, but also with scenes running dramatic, romantic, and even sweetly comedic. Mainetti gives her a gorgeous landscape to play in, too, with a story unfolding against beautiful cinematography, lush lighting, and sharp camerawork. It's a simple tale of revenge infused with character and thematic intent, and it's a thrilling joy to watch even with its two-hour-plus running time.

Well Go USA's new 4K UHD release captures the film's beauty and highlights its use of color and darkness to tell a tale, ultimately, of light. The disc is sadly devoid of extras, but it's absolutely worth a pick up for the film alone. Buy it, watch it, seek out Freaks Out, and then join me in anxiously awaiting Mainetti's next feature.

The folks at Well Go USA released two other genre titles of note recently that should appeal to fans of sharks and samurais. (Not in the same film, unfortunately.)

First up is Kiah Roache-Turner's Beast of War which drops a handful of shipwreck survivors into the unforgiving sea during World War II. They're Australian soldiers whose ship has been sunk by enemy fire, and their survival is tested by the sea, further enemy attacks, and the presence of a hungry and determined great white shark.

It's a small film unfolding mostly on a raft adrift in a nighttime fog -- it adds atmosphere and hides the fact that they're filming in a tank -- but it holds together on the strength of its cast, direction, and quality of shark. That last element is no small thing, as far too many shark attack movies over the past several years have relied on shoddy cg that instantly kills any hope of tension or thrills. Here, though, the shark finds life as a mostly practical creation that genuinely impresses in its appearances and encounters with the survivors.

Beast of War is far from flashy, and it pairs its shark attack thrills with more sedate scenes of character contemplation and conflict, but it's a solid little exercise in survival and suspense. The Blu-ray release is free of extras, but if you're a shark attack thriller fan you already know it's for you.

Lone Samurai takes an equally simple premise involving a shipwreck as a lone survivor washes up on an island, only to discover a tribe of cannibals already calls it home. Good thing he's a samurai...

The film's first act is the calm before the storm as Riku (Shogen) comes to grips with being alone on an island. He moves between memories of his past and doubts about his future -- the former represented by imagined appearances by people from his life, and the latter evident in his decision to end his life -- but in between he works to craft a sustainable life of survival. It's all interrupted, though, when he's captured by the tribe and forced to fight his way out of this new nightmare.

Shogen does solid enough work in his down time here, but most folks will be coming to a film called Lone Samurai for the action. Director Josh Waller is pretty patient on that count as, a brief, sketchily lit opening sequence aside, the fighting doesn't really start until an hour into the movie.

The fights ultimately fail to wow, but Waller and friends -- including a supporting turn by the great Yayan Ruhian -- still make it an engaging adventure with scenic views. Similarly, while the disc is free of extras, it's a film that's worth a watch.